He “led a ‘quiet engine’ program, which developed standard technology for commercial jets, and a program for space power from batteries, solar cells and more,” Segall wrote.

Sanders’s interest in above-the-ground projects was evident in his youth.

“Over the years, he sometimes worked at NASA with his twin brother, John, now deceased,” wrote Segall. “The twins grew up in remote Virginia and became known as ‘the mad scientists of Saltville.’ They tried to climb a pole with magnets on their feet. They also tossed sizzling chemistry experiments through the attic window onto the tin roof.”